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MEDIA ADVISORYBureau of Transportation to conduct crosswalk enforcement with Police on Wed. in SE

WHAT A crosswalk enforcement action includes one or more pedestrian decoys strategically positioned at locations that have marked or unmarked crosswalks and a fair amount of pedestrian activity. Drivers that fail to stop for pedestrians in the crosswalk may be issued a warning or given a citation by police. Pedestrians that jaywalk may receive warnings or citations.

WHY Members of the community have expressed their concerns about pedestrian safety at this location. Crosswalk enforcement actions are an opportunity to educate the community about Oregon crosswalk laws and enforce the law. Pedestrians are at risk in traffic – approximately one-third of traffic-related fatalities in Portland are pedestrians and bicyclists. Half of all vehicle-pedestrian crashes occur at an intersection or crosswalk. Crosswalk enforcement actions have proven to be an effective way to communicate pedestrian right of way laws.

I appreciate the sentiment, yet isolated enforcement actions like this have never had any long-term benefit,in terms of compliance. How is this any different than the famous Ladd Circle stings on bikes? I mean, we would all wish that enforcement would do some good for crosswalk violations, much like the stop sign extremists wish that enforcement would make bicyclists stop and wait at perfectly safe intersections. Just because the former offense kills people and the latter does not, it doesn’t change how people respond to enforcement. As long as we have: 1) a culture of acceptance of careless driving; and 2) a system of roadway construction that places the burden of communication on lots of fussy signs and paint lines, we’ll never change how people behave on the roads. Police enforcement actions have very little influence on this.